In the second volume of Suzuka the tone of the series changes a bit.  In the first volume the show came across as a harem series about a young high school boy, Yamato, who has to live in a girl's dorm just like in Love, Hina.  In this set of shows they get away from the wacky girls who live in the dorm and concentrate on Yamato's love live in a fairly serious fashion.  The show has evolved into a surprisingly mature program that is actually a lot better than I thought it would be.
 
Series Background:

Yamato Akitsuki has traveled to Tokyo from his home town of Hiroshima in order to attend a prestigious high school.  The day before classes begin he's checking out the campus when he sees Suzuka Asahina practicing the high jump.  She's graceful and elegant, and the shy Yamato instantly becomes enamored of the athlete, even though he knows he'll probably never see her again.

While staying in Tokyo, Yamato is living in an all girl's dorm that is owned and operated by his aunt.  Also living in the dorm are Yuka Saotome, a gorgeous college student who loves to drink until she passes out, and Megumi Matsumoto, a grad student who tries to contain Yuka but usually ends up drunk herself.  Yuka becomes amorous (usually towards Yamato) while inebriated, and Megumi becomes surly and rants about how men are pigs and that all they want to do is look at her ample breasts.  One of the other girls living in the dorm turns out to be (you'll never believe this) Suzaka.  She's in the room right next to Yamato's in fact.

Also going to Aoba High are Yamato's friend and experienced lady's man Yasunobu Hattori, and a quiet, lovely young lady, Honoka Sakurai.  Yamato and Honoka met years ago when they were kids and the meeting left quite an impression on the young girl.  When she sees Yamato again, she instantly falls for him.  The only problem is that Yamato's too blinded by Suzuka to notice that Honoka's always hitting on him.

This volume:

Tired of just pining over Suzuka, Akitsuki works up the never to ask her out to an amusement park.  She agrees and the two head out that weekend.  Unfortunately it rains and all of the outdoor rides (i.e. the fun ones) close down which puts Suzuka in a bad mood and she pretty much wants to turn around and go home.  Yamato talks her into trying a couple of in-door rides, and they end up having fun until the rain stops.

The day is going so well, Yamato decides that he'll tell Suzuka how he feels about her.  In a move that will surely surprise most viewers, he actually does confess his strong feelings to the girl.  She's stunned, and asks if he's setting her up for a joke or something but he doesn't back down.  Unfortunately the track star just looks down and says "I'm sorry."

Crushed by this rejection, Yamato isn't sure what to do.  He gets very depressed, but finally realizes that he can't give up that easily.  He decides to join the track team and work really hard figuring that Suzuka will eventually come to appreciate him.  It seems to have the opposite effect on her though; she becomes really irritated with him.  Even when he places first among the team in a practice track meet she seems unimpressed and angry.  The harder he works the more she seems to dislike him.

Things come to a head when they have a day off from practice before a big meet.  Yamato overhears Suzuka telling a friend that she's going to go back to her home and see Kazuki Tsuda, a guy whose picture she keeps in her room and who also bears an uncanny resemblance to Yamato.  After stewing on it a bit and deciding that Suzuka is going to see an old flame the impulsive boy goes to her home town where he learns about Suzuka's past.

I was really impressed with this volume.  It managed to fix the problems I had with the first disc (mainly that it was hard to see what Yamato saw in Suzuka) and expand the plot nicely.  When the two friends are having fun at the amusement park it is easy to see what the boy sees in the track star.  They had a lot of fun and got along nicely.  It's only when Suzuka is thinking about things in her past that she starts acting like a bitch.  Filling in the background makes her actions more understandable and that adds a lot to the show.

All of the characters are growing and becoming more three dimensional as the series progresses.  Even the pair of drunk girls in the dorm house are starting to be fleshed out a bit, something I never would have expected.  Though the setup is just like a harem show, the series is not anything like Love, Hina, Tenchi, or any of the other five-girls-living-with-one-guy shows that are out there.  With this volume the program has started to grow up and it's turned into a surprisingly engaging romance show.

The next five episodes are contained on this disc which comes in a clear keepcase with a reversible cover.  There is no insert.

Audio:

Ya know what the hardest part of writing a review is?  Coming up with a new and different way of saying that the audio (or video) was okay but nothing to write home about.  That's the case with this disc.  There are stereo soundtracks in English and Japanese, and while I enjoyed the Japanese a bit more they are both fine.  (Some of the English female voices were a bit whiney for my tastes.)  There were no dropouts or distortion.  Sutitles are available in English.

Video:

This show comes with a 4:3 image that is solid and looks fine.  There is some aliasing, mainly in the background, but the lines are tight and the colors are bright and even.  Like the audio, this is an average looking disc that doesn't really wow the viewer but doesn't do anything wrong either.

Extras:

Also included on this disc are a textless opening and closing and the Aoda High School Year Book.  This last feature is a reel of stills from the show that lasts slightly less than a minute.

For some reason FUNimation also decided to include an actor's commentary track to the first episode on this disc.  Leah Clark (Suzuka) and Todd Haberkorn (Yamato) give their thoughts on episode six, A Day at the Park.  While I often appreciate commentaries, I have to admit that I don't see the point to having the English voice actors talk over the show.  Like just about all of the other anime commentary tracks I've listened to, the actors try to come up with something interesting to say, but fail miserably.  They often resort to noting what's on screen and trying to make jokes about it.  "Well, here's the parade that Suzuka wanted to see."
 
Final Thoughts:

I recommended the last volume only cautiously.  I had some reservations about the show and wasn't sure whether or not it would develop into a memorable program.  I'm very glad to report that it did rise to its potential and turned into a very engaging and interesting show.  I can't wait for the next volume to see what happens next.  This one gets a strong recommendation.